Dear Friends,

In our gospel today, Luke wrote, “Some Scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, ‘The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers...but yours eat and drink.’”

The disciples of Jesus are regarded as extensions of him. That is why those who oppose Jesus, but cannot find any flaw in him, direct their critical gaze, instead, on his disciples. By finding something to denounce in his disciples, they intend to put Jesus in a bad light.

Today’s gospel illustrates this well. The Scribes and Pharisees do not directly question Jesus's behavior but focused their critical remarks on his disciples who don’t observe the traditional fasting.

Today, the Church too is identified with her members, so that her holiness is questioned by critics and opponents because of the observable unholiness of her members. Occasions like this can be turned into opportunities.

In the Gospel, Jesus use the occasion to speak about the newness of the Kingdom that calls for a renewed heart. For us members of the Church, criticisms can be opportunities, not for counter-attack or defense, but for reflecting and responding to God’s continual call to holiness.

Let us encourage one another to learn from a weakness, which critics use to malign our Church that it may become opportunities for us to grow in humility and holiness.

In Christ,

Fr. Gregg